Elevator
by Groundswell
Summary: The Marauders meet after they've died... in an Elevator.


_A/N: I own nothing of course._

_*cling*_!

As the Elevator doors opened a man entered, mumbling, "Finally." He looked to be in his mid thirties. He wore a semiformal suit. His black hair was slightly messy, his hazel eyes looked tired and he had a few days' stubble. In his hands he carried a pair of glasses, but he simply stuffed them into the pocket of his jacket. He sighed and folded his hands in front of him.

He looked upwards to see which floor he was at, but nothing but a large blue 'X' was shown. He sighed yet another time and looked down again. He blew air out loudly and clicked a single time his tongue. He studied the grey doors of the Elevator a few seconds and then looked upwards again, rocking back and forth, from his heals to his toes, for a few times, nearly not moving.

He looked around the Elevator, but the walls were nearly bare. Brown, with a simple white board to hang up notes on. He let his finger run over the single paper which was hanging on the board with three names, but he could only read the one in the top, James Potter.

"Yep, that's me," he muttered.

Slowly he let his finger run over the list, but they gave him no clue of what was underneath the blurred spots. He frowned. But of course, four wouldn't have fit; now it was only three. He was suddenly overwhelmed by sadness. That he was here would mean that...

_*cling*_!

The doors slowly opened and outside stood a man. His hair was slightly long and messy in a more graceful way and he looked a lot as if he was tired of living. He was wearing a less classy suit, but it was more original and striking. This man too looked to be in his mid thirties. He looked up, and the two set of eyes met.

"Padfoot."

"Good Merlin, is that you, Prongs?" Padfoot asked, his grey eyes lighting up. "You look..."

"Old," Prongs answered, "yes, I know. But I had to wait for you."

Padfoot slowly entered, standing beside Prongs. "Wait for me?"

"Yes, you and Moony. I S'pose Wormtail is no longer a part of this."

Padfoot clenched his teeth. "I suppose not." He looked at Prongs. "What, um..."

"Oh, we're dead," Prongs said, looking at him shortly and then turning his gaze upwards. "On the way up. Or at least I think so. I can't see."

"How have you been?" Padfoot asked and looked at his friend.

Prongs shrugged. "Fine. Missed you though. And Lily."

"Where's she?" Padfoot asked, turning his gaze to what was supposed to show the level they were on, but was still a simple blue 'X'.

"She took off years ago. Or at least I think it's years ago, time passes weirdly when you're dead." He smiled.

Padfoot nodded. "Yeah..."

"She waited for Barbra."

"Seems logical enough."

Prongs nodded and sighed.

_*cling*_!

The Elevator stopped and the doors opened once more. Outside, a man with light brown hair with grey strands in it was waiting. He seemed to be in his late thirties, he was the one looking the most tired. His clothes were the most formal, but looked older than the two other sets. He smiled genuinely as his light brown eyes saw the two men in the Elevator.

"Prongs," he said astounded, "Padfoot."

"Welcome, Moony," Prongs said with a nod.

Moony entered and stood on the left side of Prongs. "Long time, no see."

"I have absolutely no idea about the time," Prongs said, "I've been busy being dead."

"Ahh, of course. Where are we going?"

"No idea," Prongs and Padfoot answered at the same time. They looked at each other and uttered a short laughter.

"It's actually not funny," Padfoot said, looking at the now closed doors. "We're dead."

"I wasn't ready to die," Prongs said with a sigh. "I can't stop thinking of Harry."

Moony moved a bit. "He's... He's fine, Prongs."

Prongs looked at him. "So you did get to know him?"

"Since he was thirteen," Moony answered, smiling. "But Harry's fonder of Padfoot. Though they had a... slight of a rough start."

Prongs smiled and turned to Padfoot. "I'm glad to hear that. But what happened?"

"Went to Azkaban a few years." Padfoot shrugged. "I'm fine. Hope Wormtail got to pay for it though."

"What?" Prongs frowned.

"Oh, I got the blame for your death and the betrayal. But I'm fine with it now. I'm sad I couldn't take care of Harry. I think he's struggling." Padfoot said, looking at Prongs, "The kid's got no one. Hey!" He suddenly turned to Moony. "If you're here, then who's taking care of Harry? And... What year is it?" He looked from Prongs to Moony.

"Don't ask me," Prongs muttered. "I died first."

"1998," Moony answered.

"Harry's seventeen then," Prongs sighed, looking straight ahead. "Wow, time passes strangely when you're dead. I could swear 'tis not been so long."

"Don't worry about it," Moony said. "I think Harry's fine, at least he was the last time I saw him. He..." He smiled. "He's doing great. The true image of you too."

Prongs nodded, smiling widely. "Think about it..."

"About what?" Padfoot asked.

"We're dead," he said with a strange tone. "Dead. It's the end of the Marauders." He looked at his two friends. "How does it feel?"

"Strange," Moony said with a nod.

There was silence for a couple of seconds. Outside, it sounded as if it was raining and wind was blowing wildly against the sides of the Elevator. Padfoot took a few deep breaths, then he folded his hands behind his neck, looking upwards.

"I'm a dad," Moony suddenly said.

"Wow." Prongs turned towards him. "Congratulations."

Moony shook his head. "It's not good. Dora died too. I left her outside. She had to wait for another Elevator."

"Oh."

"Harry's the godfather."

"Really?" Prongs asked and looked at him. "Thanks."  
"No, thank you." Moony looked at Prongs. "Without him I wouldn't have made it through. He's a good boy, Prongs."

Prongs smiled. "We did have one and a half year to raise him properly," he joked.

Moony smiled back "You can be proud of him."

The wind outside seemed to get worse. Moony folded his hands in front of him, looking upwards.

Padfoot let his hands drop. "How did the war go?"

Moony shrugged, looking at him shortly. "Hogwarts is under attack. Everyone is fighting. Oh, yeah. And Dumbledore died."

"Really?" Padfoot asked, his eyes growing wide.

"He did?" Prongs asked and turned towards him. "How?"

"Snape killed him."

"I knew it," grumbled Padfoot. "I knew that slimy little-"

"Padfoot," Prongs said. "There's no anger in the Elevator."

"Yeah, whatever."

"How far is there?" Moony asked, looking upwards.

"No, idea," Prongs mumbled. "If we're going to heaven it's gonna be a long way."

"Do you think we belong in hell?" Padfoot asked.

Prongs shook his head. "No. We're good on the inside."

Moony nodded. "We've never been able to fool anyone."

"I nearly did," Padfoot said with a slight air of humour.

Prongs slowly put an arm around his shoulder. "We still love you, mate."

Silence settled upon the Elevator once more. Padfoot slowly leaned against the back. Slowly Prongs and Moony followed, both with a sigh. Both Padfoot and Prongs stuffed their hands into the pockets of their pants. Moony had folded his in front of him. The storm outside had settled into a silent rain.

"At least we're together now," Prongs said. "It's been sad on this side without you two guys."

"Earth years are longer than elevator years," Moony said with a smile. "I think you've had the easiest part."

He nodded. "Yeah, probably."

"I've even come far enough to forgive Wormtail a little bit."

The two other looked at him. "You what?" Padfoot asked.

"Forgive him." Prongs looked at them on turn. "You see, that's the beauty of being dead, it puts everything in perspective. We all have our flaws, Wormtail's just happened to kill me."

"You're incredible, Prongs," Padfoot mumbled. "The guy practically was the one killing you, and you forgive him."

"Yeah," Prongs said with a sigh and nodded. "I think I do."

"Why?" Moony asked.

"If it hadn't been for him," Padfoot said, looking at Prongs, "you and Lily could have been on Earth still, living side by side with Harry."

Prongs shook his head. "No. In some way or another, Voldemort would have gotten to us. He would have gotten the truth out at some point, no matter what. Or he would have kept searching, and we'd all still live in fright of him."

"So you even know what happened?" Padfoot asked. He pushed away from the wall.

"Something happened to Voldemort when he tried to kill Harry and he 'died' himself." Prongs looked upwards. "I heard it from a passing Elevator. Some women just talk and talk without breathing. It's inconceivable really." He slowly straightened up.

Moony raised an eyebrow and stood up next to his two friends. "You truly are a friend, Prongs. I still can't forgive him."

"That's what makes us different," Prongs said with a smile. "And I'm not asking you to either. Maybe when you've been dead for sixteen years you'll see."

"I'm on my way," Padfoot said, "but I still don't even think about it."

"You've been dead for two years," Moony said and rolled his eyes. "Prongs has for sixteen."

"Hey, no sarcasm in the Elevator," Prongs said. "The Elevator is a happy place."

Moony nodded, eyes on Padfoot who laughed soundlessly. He smiled too. Prongs shook his head.

"You guys are incredible. Will you even stop fighting over small things?"

"Probably never," Moony said.

"I agree," Padfoot muttered. "What should we spend the rest of eternity doing? Knitting?"

Prongs sighed. "I'm not saying I want you to stop, but I was asking if you ever will," he smiled. "I don't want you to change."

"We won't." Moony looked into the ceiling. "How far are we going?"

"Didn't you ask that already?"

He shrugged. "Yeah." He suddenly turned to Prongs. "Where's Lily? I thought she'd be with you?"

"Waited for Barbra," Prongs answered. "She was picked up a few years ago. I don't know."

"Barbra died in 1995," Moony said. "It's been three years."

"Merlin, I miss her."

They all looked at the little sign, which still didn't read what level they were on.

"Hey," Padfoot suddenly muttered. "I've gotten my tooth back."

Prongs looked at him. "The one you lost in fourth year?"

"The very same," Padfoot said with a smile. "Wow, it's incredible. Why didn't I notice before?"

"You've probably been busy being dead," Moony said.

"Yeah, probably."

Prongs sighed. "I think it's calming down outside."

The others listened, and the faint rain was growing even fainter.

"So tell me about her," Prongs said, looking at Moony. "This Dora?"

"She's..." Moony paused. "She' incredible."

"And young," Padfoot said with a cheeky smile. "Ain't she?"

Moony smiled and looked at him. "She's Sirius's cousin Andromeda's daughter."

"Merlin!" Prongs laughed and turned to him. "She's young!"

Moony chuckled. "Yes, she is."

"Who is she waiting for?"

He shook his head. "I didn't have time to ask. The Elevator got there almost at once. You were fast."

"I waited," Padfoot said.

"I waited the longest," Prongs stated, grinning.

"Yeah, well, I lived the longest," Moony said, raising a single eyebrow while smirking.

Prongs laughed. "We're not very bright... Discussing who has been dead for the longest."

"We should be looking forward to the next part instead," Padfoot said, nodding.

"I can't wait to see Lily."

"I can't wait to see where we're going."

"I can't wait till Dora gets here."

They all laughed shortly. Just then, the Elevator came to a halt. Padfoot stumbled, but with help his two friends, he kept standing. They all looked up as the doors slowly slid open.

They all squinted at the bright light outside. After a few seconds, they slowly moved outside. The ground was a firm white carpet from which elevators kept coming up. There were no walls as the place kept going on, never-ending.

"James!"

Prongs turned at the call, seeing a woman running towards him. The woman looked to be in the mid, maybe early, thirties. Her red hair was long and her green eyes were sparkling. She was wearing a long, warm cream coloured dress. She ran forward and stopped in front of the three Marauders, smiling happily.

"Hurry up," she said and grabbed Prongs' hand. "Harry's calling us."

Prongs followed, but Lily stopped as she saw Padfoot and Moony weren't following. She placed one of her hands on her hip, looking at them.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Harry's calling you too!"


End file.
